Johnson 70 2-stroke carbs

[Booberdoo]

Every year when I get the boat out of winter storage and try to start it, my needles stick shut in the seats. It really gets frustrating to have to pull all the carbs off to unstick them.

When I put the boat away at the end of the season, I disconnect the fuel line, start the engine and when it starts sputtering out of fuel I fog it until it dies. Then I dump whatever fuel is left in the Jeep (it will drink just about anything). Then the tank is flushed with fresh fuel and put away. So it gets fresh pre-mix in the spring but evidently when I prime the engine it must fill the float bowls and cause the needles to stick...

Is there something I'm missing here? It would be nice not to be required to have a supply of gaskets and carb cleaner every spring.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Johnson 70 2-stroke carbs

I would run a fuel stabilizer in the last tank of the year. Then any residual fuel left in the carbs will be treated and should be fine over the winter. Personally, I have never run mine dry and use Stabil each time before I store it. It's always fine in the spring. Also, you may want to consider rebuilding the carbs using the proper kits. This will renew the parts and help avoid the problem as well...

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Johnson 70 2-stroke carbs

running seafoam, will keep a clean carb clean. rather than running dry, you can pull the drain plugs on each carb. also running dry on a multi carbed motor, the top carb runs out of gas first, so those cylinders are not getting any lubrication, as the engine keeps running.

 

[Booberdoo]

Re: Johnson 70 2-stroke carbs

running seafoam, will keep a clean carb clean. rather than running dry, you can pull the drain plugs on each carb. also running dry on a multi carbed motor, the top carb runs out of gas first, so those cylinders are not getting any lubrication, as the engine keeps running.

Thanks for the info, I was aware of the possibility of running a cylinder dry but I thought that by fogging it at the first sign of sputtering I would be ok. Compression numbers look real good so I don't think I did any appreciable damage.

I did a complete carb rebuild this year and so far so good, but I will run the stabil in the last tank as suggested. Hopefully that will do the trick.

Thanks again.